Chelsea are preparing for their final game of the season against Watford, with the West London outfit almost guaranteed to finish third after a difficult run. Thomas Tuchel ’s first full campaign at Stamford Bridge has been a rollercoaster.
The German coach guided the Blues to a European Super Cup and Club World Cup victory, but fell to defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals and lost on penalties to Liverpool in both domestic cup finals.
Off the pitch it has been a battle too, with uncertainty surrounding the club since March, when Roman Abramovich announced his intentions to sell the club before he was sanctioned by the UK Government. A takeover is yet to be completed, with each passing day adding to the delay of the summer transfer plans.
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Discussing the problems that come with such a delay, Tuchel said: “We are hoping [to be back to normal] but at the moment we are not. You ask many times if we have a delay in approaching players and making plans, of course a huge delay.
“We are affected by it, players are going out. We are rebuilding, not improving the squad. We are rebuilding. This is always challenging but we are up for the challenge.”
Amid those talks of transfers, a number of players have been linked with a move to freshen up the squad heading into the next campaign. However, following Kylian Mbappe’s renewal at PSG, a number of rumours circulated social media on Neymar potentially making the switch to Chelsea.
The 30-year-old has been a prominent figure since his world-record switch to the French capital and happened to play under Tuchel during his time at the club. Discussing what it is like to manage the Brazilian back in 2019, the coach said, via the Guardian : “Neymar has a good heart, sometimes it’s a bit hard to see that he is a nice person when you only watch him play from outside. But he is, he’s a nice guy.
“I told him: ‘You think the hardest part is over but from now on you have to deal with me and I’m going to push you hard. So the hardest thing is still to come for you.’”
Whether the superstar would make the switch to Stamford Bridge remains to be seen. However. both player and manager have spoken very honestly and kindly about each other in the past, potentially opening the chance of a reunion in the future.
